Galactic Rules
by Indra
Summary: Sometimes even Jedi are helpless against the workings of the Universe.


Disclaimer: The Jedi belong to George Lucas. The plot is mine.   
  
Notes: This story is based on something our priest once told me. He's from Argentina and this actually happened to him when he was trying to get his plane out of the country.   
  
Please tell me what you think! Feedback is greatly appreciated!  
  
Jedi Master Drayan Orbis was tired. Extremely tired. And sore. He knew the reason for both problems. The reason was that he had been at this Sith-forsaken spaceport for almost two days now and his only rest had been in the cheap plastic chairs that lined the walls. He also knew that there wasn't anything he could do about it and that was the third problem. Master Orbis hated to be helpless.   
  
He sighed tiredly again. He had lost count of how many times he had done this in the last 43 hours. 43 hours and 16 minutes. That was another thing he hated. He was growing impatient. He was a Jedi Master for Force's sake. He shouldn't be getting impatient or doing things like sigh continually or, worse even, fidget. It was unbecoming of a Jedi Master. Not that anyone here knew his identity. He was on his way back from an undercover mission and was not wearing his robes. The mission had gone extremely well and when he had first boarded his ship he had been satisfied with himself and the world around him. That had lasted until he had reached the spaceport of Qurrah and had learned that all flights were grounded. They had given him neither a reason nor information on when he could continue his journey. They hadn't even told him the truth. For there were ships leaving the planet. And he had seen people boarding those ships. Rich people. Influential people. Politicians, celebrities. After all, all sorts of people were passing through Qurrah on their way to all sorts of planets.   
  
Orbis looked about the room once again. The people around him weren't celebrities or anyone else who mattered to those up there. They were people who spent most of their lives working to exhaustion in order to be able to feed their families. There were men, women and children of various species. Orbis saw a Trellian boy of about twelve standard years, who was bouncing a ball up and down and had been doing it for the last half an hour. He saw a human woman who was nursing her infant, while two slightly older girls clung to her simple dress, both on the verge of falling asleep. There were about a hundred others, all trying to find something to do. There were shops across from him and he had seen children peer longingly inside, looking at all the delicious things one could buy. Nobody in this room looked like they could afford to buy food at a spaceport. Most of them looked as if they had never even seen Republic Credits. They were probably emigrants who had done Force-knew-what to be able to get to another planet and start a new life. Because although Qurrah was an important connection port to reach all sorts of worlds, it wasn't a place where one could make a fortune. People here were for the most part farmers and hardly anyone didn't dream of going somewhere else.   
  
Orbis sighed again and immediately winced as he realised what he had done. Sometimes he was relieved that he didn't have a Padawan or he would have probably been confronted with a youth grinning from ear to ear at seeing his Master so impatient. But if he had a Padawan, there would at least be someone to keep him company. Orbis wished for the hundredth time that he had a book with him.   
  
Suddenly something landed beside him on the plastic chair. He picked it up and recognised the small ball he had seen the Trellian boy with. When he looked up, the boy was staring at him nervously, biting his lip.   
  
Orbis smiled. "Is this yours?"   
  
The boy nodded shyly. The Jedi held the ball out to him and the boy hesitantly took a step forward, snatching the ball from the outstretched hand quickly, but then he didn't move away, instead looking at the tall stranger curiously.   
  
Orbis decided that it couldn't hurt to talk to the boy. "What's your name?"   
  
After a small pause in which the child seemed to gauge whether he could be trusted or not, he said, "Sierro."   
  
"It's nice to meet you, Sierro. My name is Drayan."   
  
The boy suddenly seemed to decide that there was no danger in talking to the Jedi and sat down beside him. "Where are you going?"   
  
Orbis had to smile at the natural ease with which most children talked to complete strangers. "I'm going home, to Coruscant. And where are you going?"   
  
"To Vielakt. My father says we will have a better life there, but my mother doesn't believe it."   
  
"Where's your family?"   
  
"Over there." The boy pointed to one corner of the room, where a Trellian man and woman sat with four more children, all of them obviously younger than Sierro.   
  
"How do you know that your mother doesn't believe it? Has she said so?"   
  
Sierro looked at him with eyes that told Orbis he knew what he was talking about. "She doesn't have to. She always is like this when we don't have money or when the children are ill."   
  
Orbis closed his eyes for a moment. What kind of galaxy was it, where children could talk like this and know such things?   
  
But then he looked down at the boy beside him and smiled. "I bet she's just worried about the flight." And in a conspiratorial whisper he added, "Mothers are like that. They're always afraid of flying."   
  
Sierro giggled and with a gleam in his eyes, he said, "I'm not afraid to fly. One day, I'll be a pilot and I'm going to see lots of planets and earn lots of money for my family and we won't ever have to be hungry again."   
  
Orbis didn't know whether he should cry at those words or laugh because of the smile lighting up the boy's features. He settled for smiling again, so as not to discourage the child. "I'm sure you will be a great pilot."   
  
Sierro beamed at him. Orbis reached into his small bag and took out a nutrition bar he had saved for the way back. He gave it to the boy, trying not to do it too openly. "Are you hungry?"   
  
Sierro looked at him hesitantly, but then nodded and took the bar. "Thank you." He turned around to look at his family. "I'll go back to my parents now. It was nice to meet you."   
  
"And you, Sierro. And take care of your Mum during the flight."   
  
The boy grinned once more and then ran over to his family. Orbis watched as he broke the bar into four parts and gave them to his siblings. Someone out here, who hasn't lost their good heart to life's cruelty yet. When Orbis averted his eyes, he saw a small girl of about five years look at him, then at his bag. The Jedi swallowed. He had nothing left to give to her. He couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and walked over to one of the security guards standing at the door that led out to the spaceships. Maybe, he could achieve something here.   
  
The guard stared straight through him, when Orbis approached him and only looked him in the eyes, when the Master started to talk. "Excuse me, but has there been any development? When can we expect to get off this planet?"   
  
The guard gave the same answer he had given hours before. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I can't tell you anything. We're working on it."   
  
Orbis was quickly losing his patience. He decided to take a more direct approach. "Listen, I've seen people leaving, so don't try to tell me again that all flights are grounded. I'm on my way to Coruscant. I've had a long and tiring mission and I have to give my report to the Jedi Council. So could you please try to find out what the problem is?"   
  
The man seemed to stand up straighter suddenly. "You're a Jedi?"   
  
Orbis didn't understand what this had to do with anything, but he said, "Yes, I am a Jedi."   
  
The guard took him by the arm and led him through the barriers. "But why didn't you say so? You could have left much earlier."   
  
The Jedi Master felt as if he would be sick. "Now listen. I don't want to be allowed to leave because I'm a Jedi. I want to leave together with everyone else, because it is just possible."   
  
But the guard had already reached another man of higher rank, by the insignias on his uniform and was talking in a low voice. Then he suddenly left and Orbis stood in a large hangar with several spaceships.   
  
The man with the uniform addressed him. "I'm sorry, Sir, that you had to wait so long. If we had known of your status you would of course have been able to leave sooner. Please follow me."   
  
"No, I won't. This is ridiculous. First you tell all those people that nobody can leave and then suddenly, it's possible, only because I'm a Jedi. What is going on here?"   
  
The guard didn't turn around, but kept on walking. "I'm sorry, Sir. I'm not allowed to tell you. I can assure you that you won't have to wait any longer."   
  
Orbis took a deep calming breath. "Listen, I'm not worried about having to wait. What about the people? When will they be allowed to leave?"   
  
"I cannot tell you, Sir. They will be brought to their ships as soon as possible."   
  
Orbis opened his mouth, but then realised that there was really nothing he would accomplish by staying and so he followed the other man up a ramp into a small ship, designed for only three people. He was shown a place, where he sat down at a window and buckled his seatbelt. The guard exchanged a few words with the pilot, nodded to Orbis and left. The ship hovered outside and Orbis could hear the pilot going through his check-list.   
  
Through the window, the Jedi could see the room where he had sat only moments before. He felt numb. Somewhere in there, Sierro was sitting, still hungry with his father, who hoped for a better life, his mother, who didn't believe in it and his four siblings, who didn't yet know what awaited them in this world. Somewhere close by, the little girl was sitting, hoping for another man who would give her something to eat. Would Sierro ever be a pilot? Probably not. During his life as a Jedi, Orbis had seen a lot of worlds such as this one and he knew that it wouldn't be the last. And he knew that the people sitting in that room would never get a second glance from those who were responsible for the way the galaxy worked. They would have to wait. 


End file.
